A DRUG addict went on a shoplifting spree after being given a suspended jail sentence for burgling her own grandmother's home in Burton, a judge heard.

In just over a month Louise Upton was caught five times stealing from stores in and around Burton.

At the time she was subject to an eight-month suspended jail sentence for raiding her grandmother's home, from where she stole a purse containing £170 in cash and a bank card.

Upton used the bank card to withdraw £300 from her grandmother's account and spent it all on drugs, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Upton, 27, of Main Street, Stapenhill, was jailed for a total of 18 months after admitting five charges of theft and breaching a suspended sentence.

Recorder Naomi Shant told her: "It's quite plain that immediately before you were remanded in custody your life had reached a peak of chaos. You have a bad record for shoplifting – you have contact with others even more professional than yourself, you are persistent in stealing from shops in order to fund your habit.

"The burglary of your grandmother was a mean offence."

The judge heard Upton had been sentenced by another court, in April this year, to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, for the burglary. She had a record of 21 previous offences, most of them shoplifting.

Fiona Cortese, prosecuting, said that on June 10, Upton stole £29 of meat from Sainsbury's Local, in Burton Road, Branston.

She was recognised from CCTV, and from when she went back to the same store with a male to steal another £66 of meat the next day.

A store detective at Matalan, in Middleway Park, Burton, spotted Upton and a male putting £134 of clothes into a bag on June 25. The man was detained but Upton ran off.

Tesco, off St Peter's Bridge, was targeted on July 3, and Upton was detained at the entrance with £20 of meat.

Finally, on July 27, CCTV filmed her stealing £50 of meat from the Co-op in Woods Lane, Stapenhill.

Jane Sarginson, defending, said: "She will be the first to concede she needs to be in custody to call a halt to her addiction.

"It's got such a hold on her that the addiction is controlling her, rather than she controlling the addiction.

"She feels immense guilt and anger at herself because of the state she is in."